...City-state Aratta constitutes the subject of four epic tales (or four variants of one)dated the beginning of the third millenium B.C.

The four variants of this epic tale, found in a series of cuneiform inscriptions, retainsome specific data about Sumer's ancient relations with the Armenian Highland. Though these narratives have reached us in the form of epic poetry told by Sumeriantroubadours and poets, as it was the style in historiography in that remote past at the beginning of the historical period, they contain valuable information that reflect historical facts. These poems shed considerable light on the development of humancivilization and on the political, economic, and cultural life of that twilight period of history. Because of the importance they bear upon the topic under study, we wishto present here briefly some episodes from these four epic poems that particularlyinterest us.

One of these tales, which S.N. Kramer has published under the title 'Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta', was found recorded on twenty cuneiform tablets and fragment's, consisting of six hundred lines, where the following story unfolds:Once upon a time, Enmerkar(grandfather of Gilgamesh), son of the Sun-God, Utu,having determined to make a vassal state of Aratta, implores his sister. Inanna, the powerful Sumerian goddess of love and war, to see to it that the people of Arattabring gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and precious stones and build for him various shrinesand temples, particularly the Abzu, the sea temple of Enki, in Eridu. Inanna, heeding Enmerkar's plea, advises him to seek out a suitalbe herald to crossthe imposing mountains of Anshan and assures him that the people of Aratta will submit to him and carry out the building operations he desires. Enmerkar selects his herald and sends him to the en of Aratta with a message containing a threat to destroy and make desolate his city unless he and his people bring down silverand gold and build and decorate Enki's temple.

The herald, after traversing seven mountains, arrives at Aratta, duly repeats his master's words to it's en, and asks for his answer. The latter, however, refuses toyield to Enmerkar, claiming that he is Inanna's protege and that she had brought him to Aratta as its ruler. Thereupon, the hearld informs him that Enmerkar hadbrought Inanna to Erech and had mede her queen of its temple, Eanna, and that the goddess had promised Enmerkar that Aratta would submit to him. The en of Aratta is stunned by this news. He composes and answer for the herald to take back to his king in which he admonishes Enmerkar for resortingto arms and says that he prefers a "contest", that is, a fight between two selected champions. He goes on to say that, since Inanna has become his enemy, he is ready to submit to Enmerkar only if he will send him large quantities of grain. The herald returns to Erech posthaste and delivers the message to Enmerkar in teh courtyard of the assembly hall.

Before making his next move, Enmerkar performs several acts apparently ritualistic in character. First, he takes counsel with Nidaba, the Sumerian godess of wisdom. Then he has his beasts of burden loaded with grain. Theyare led to Aratta by the hearld, who is to deliver to its lord a message eulogizing Enmerkar's scepter and commanding the lord to bring Enmerkarcarnelian and lapis lazuh. On arrival, the herald piles up the grain in the courtyard and delivers his message. The people, delighted with the grain, are ready to present Enmerkar with the desired carnelian and to have the "elders" build his "pure house" for him. But the hysterical en of Aratta, after eulogizing his own scepter, refuses and insists, in words identical with those of Enmerkar, that the letter bring him carnelian and lapis lazuli.

On the herald's return to Erech, Enmerkar seemingly consults the omens, in particular one involving a sushima-reed, which he bring forth from "light to shade" and from "shade to light", until he finally cuts it down"after five years, after ten years had passed." He sends the hearld forthonce again to Aratta, this time mercly placing the scepter in his hand withoutany occompanying message. The sight of the scepter seems to arouse terrorin the en of Aratta. He turns to his shatam and, after speaking bitterly of theplight of his city as a result of Inanna's displeasure, seems issues a challengeto Enmerkar. This time he demands that Enmerkar select, as his representative,one of his "fighting men" to engage in single combat with one of his own "fighting men". Thus "the stronger will become known."

On the herald's arrival at Erech with this new challenge, Enmerkar bids him teturn to Aratta with a three-part message:(1) He (Enmerkar) accepts the en of Aratta's challenge and is prepared to sendone of his own retainers to fight his representative to a decision. (2) He demandsthat the en of Aratta heap up gold, silver and precious stones for the goddess Inanna in Erech. (3) He once again threatens Aratta with total destruction unlessits en and its people bring "stones of the mountain" to build and decorate the Eridu shrine for him...A remarkable passage follows which, if correctly interpreted, inform us thatEnmerkar was, in the opinion of the poet, the first to write on clay tablets and that he did so because his herald seemed "heavy of mouth" and unable to repeat the message, perhaps because of it's lenght. The hearld delivers theinscribed tablet to the en of Aratta and awaits his answer. But help now seemsto come to the en from an enexpected source. The Sumerian god of rain andstorm, Ishkur, brings to Aratta wild wheat and beans and heaps them up beforethe en. At the sight of the wheat the en takes courage. His confidence regained,he informs Enmerkar's herald that Inanna had by no means abandoned Aratta orher house and bed there.

From here on, the text becomes fragmentary and the context difficult to follow, except for the statement that the people of Aratta did bring gold, silver, andlapis lazuli to Erech and heaped them p in the courtyard of Eanna for Inanna.

In another Sumerian epic poem, which consists of close to three hundred lines...we again find Enmerkar, the en of Erech in a bitter contest with an en of Aratta, but with one in this case who bears teh good Sumerian name Ensukushsiranna. Its plot, very briefly put, is as follows:In the days when a certain Ennamibaragga-Utu was king of an empire presumably including Sumer and parts of ancient Iran, Ensukushsiranna, the enof Aratta, issued a challenge to Enmerkar, the en of Erech, demanding that thelatter recognize him as his overlord and that the goddess Inanna be brought to Aratta. Enmerkar is contemptuous of the challenge and in a long address, in chich he depicts himself as the favorite of the gods, declares that Inanna willremain in Erech and demands that Ensukushsiranna become his vassal. Ensukushsiranna gathers the members of his council and asks them for advise.They counsel him to submit to Enmerkar, but this he indignantly refuses to do. Whereupon the mashmash priest of Aratta comes to his aid and boasts that he will subdue Erech - and indeed, all the lands "above and below, from the seato the cedar mountain" - by his magical power. Ensukushsiranna is delighted and gives him five minas of gold and five minas of silver as well as the necessarysupplies. The mashmash arrives in Erech in due course but i outwitted by the goddess Nidaba's two shepherds and a wise old crone by the name of Sagburru, who finally kills him and throws his dead body into the Euphrates. When Ensukushiranna hears of what has befallen his mashmash, he hurriedly sendsa messenger to Enmerkar and capitulates completely, admiting abjectly thatEnmerkar is his superior.

Another Sumerian epic tale whose contents are revealing of teh extraordinary close political, religious, and cultural contacts between Erech and Aratta is onewhich may be entitled "Lugalbands and Enmerkar." It consists of approximatelyfour hundred lines, and the relevant details of its plot are as follows:Lugalbanda, one of the heroes of Erech belonging to Enmerkar's military entourage, has just returned to Erech from a perilous journey, only to find his lord and liege in great distress. For many years past, the Semitic Martu havebeen ravaging both Summer and Uri(roughly the later Akkad). Now they are layingsiege to Erech itself, and Enmerkar finds that he must get a call for help through to his sister (none other than the goddess Inanna of Aratta). But he can find no one to undertake the dangerous journey to Aratta to deliver the message. Whereupon, Lugalbanda steps up to his kind and bravely volunteers for the task. Upon Enkerkar's insistance on secrecy, he swears that he will make the journeyalone...He takes up his weapons, crosses the seven mountains that reach from one endof Anshan to the other...and finally arrives with joyful step at his destination. In Aratta, Lugalbanda is given a warm welcome by Inanna. She asks what hasbrought him all alone from Erech to Aratta, and he repeats verbatim Enmerkar'smessage and call for help. Inanna's answer is obscure; it seems to involve a river and the river's unusual fish which Enmerkar is to catch; also involved are certain water vessels which he is to fashion. Enmerkar does as directed, and thepoem closes with a paean of praise to Aratta, which seems to have suppliedEnmerkar with metal and stoneworkers...

(Erech is the Sumerian city Uruk. We have kept the form Erech, as mentioned in the Bible and adoped by Kramer).

From what has been reported by Khorenatsi, we already know that Ayrarat meant ‘Ara’s plain’.

He writes: “Shamiram came in haste to the plain of Ara that was called Ayrarat after his name.”

We also know that the Arartian divine name Ardi(‘sun’) corresponds to Ara. (This will be shown

later in the section of Nuard.) In our previous works we have shown (and shall still show later)

that the name Urartu, or Urardi (Ur-ardi) as written by Sargon II, meant ‘the place of Ardi’,

that is, ‘the land of Ara’. This already corresponds to the name Ayrarat (Ara’s plain’). It is

possible, therefore, that the name Urartu (Urardi, Uratri, or Uru-atri) is perhaps a later cuneiform expression of the name Ayrarat (Ararat) or Aratta (Ararta).

Thus it becomes apparent that the name Aratta (or Ararta) belongs to the group of place-names in the Armenian highland which are formed with Ar or Ara.

It follows, then, that Aratta turns out to be the oldest city-state of the Armenian Highland known so far, dating from the beginning of the third and possibly from the end of the fourth millennium B.C., the memory of which persists, most probably, in the name Ayrarat (<Ararat).

As mentioned earlier, even though all the information regarding the ancient ties and relations between Aratt and Erech (hence Sumer) have reached us in the form of epic poems of some 1500 lines preserved on a series of cuneiform tablets, still they constitute a valuable source where we find the reflections of real historical events and socio-economic conditions. One must remember that the epic tale was the main and only style of historiography in that remote past, at the very beginning of written history.

We find, therefore, that what is transmitted to us through the four variants of this epic tale has inestimable value for the history of the most ancient period of the Armenian Highland., the land wherein lie the sources of the Tigris and the Euphrates.

These tales are like beams of light that pierce the obscurity of the past and shed a momentary glow on the political, social, religious, economic and cultural condtions of the peoples of the Armenian Highland in that very early period (the beginning of the third millennium B.C.), which is still dark for modern historiography. They elucidate, in particular, their ties and interrelations with Sumer, about which we shall speak again in our next chapter.

There is a number of similarties in government structure that can be observed between Aratta and Erech. Both city-states had an “en” (priest-king) at the head and a council of “elders” (or communities). Each state had the same type of divisions of administrative and political affaris, and functions and functionaries were designated by the same terms (ensi, sukkal, shatam, ragaba, ugula).

The religious tie between Aratta andErech (hence Sumer) is striking in the epic tale. Inanna, the goddess of love and war, who is considered Sumerian (and whom the Semites identify sometimes with Ishtar), belonged earlier, according to the tales, to Aratta, and it was none other Enmerkar himself who brough her to Erech. As we have seen, it was Enmerkar who asked Inanna of Aratta of intervene in favor of securing Aratta’s help to save Erech from the siege of the enemy Martu, and Inanna had warm welcome for Enmerkar’s herald Lugalbanda ir Aratta.

In the epic tale the goddess Inanna is figured as the supreme power, since Enmerkar’s envoy asks her for help. She had the highest authority in her hand and her will was decisive, indicating that in those days the idea of matriarchy had not yet vanished entirely in Aratta, and that particular social order was still maintained to a certain extent under the supremacy of the goddess Inanna. She is represented as the mother and the patron of her people and her land. This particular characteristic of Inanna’s nature has persisted for millenniums, and in the last centuries of paganism has been represented by the goddess. ANAHIT as the patron mother of Armenia.

Moris Jstow writes that Assyria had only one goddess, Ishtar, who had the same rank in the Semitic pantheon as the goddesses Nana, Nina, Ninni, Inanna, and Anunit had in Sumer. This shows that the forms Anunit(Anahit) and Inanna represented variants of the same name of the same goddess.

It is clearly seen, then, that in Armenia, in the later periods of paganism, Inanna appears as Anahit (sometimes as Nane). Nu, as the abbreviated from of these names (in derivation), is the first component of the name of the Armenian goddess Nuart (Nuard), who was the consort of the sun-god Ara. In the times of Urartu, the name Ara appears sometimes in the derivative form Ar-di (Ardi), which, as is obvious, is the second component of Nu-ard. The word nu is preserved in Armenian with the meaning of ‘bride’. Hence Nu-ard means ‘the nu of ard’, that is “Ara’s bride or wife’. This agrees with Khorenatsi’s testimony that Nuard was Ara’s wife.

In Sumer, Inanna’s consort (and Ishtar’s in Babylonia) was Dumuzi (Tammuz), who, by virtue of his nature, is identified with Ara by Armenologists. Hence, Nuard is none other than Inanna. We can accept, therefore, that in spite of the many upheavals and tribulations throughout the millenniums, the goddess Inanna, being preserved under the names Nuard and Anahit, has continued to remain the patron mother and the native goddess of fertility and war of the Armenian Highland, that is, of Aratta(or Ararta). ‘Ara’s land’; a fact, about which, as we have seen, there are direct and concrete references in the Sumerian epic tale.

Enmerkar, the king of Erech, was belived to be “the sone of the sun-god Utu.” Hence, considering Inanna his sister, he has demanded from Aratta to supply stoneworkers for the construction of the temples in Erech and Eridu. This reminds us of a similar case in much later times: towards the end of the 10th century A.D. the Byzantine emperor Basil who was of Armenian origin, invited the renowned architect TRDAT from Armenia, the land of his ancestors of the St. Sophia Church in Constantinople, demolished in an earthquake, because there were no capable masters there at the time.

For the construction and embellishment of the temples in Erech and Eridu, Enmerkar has asked Aratta to supply not only metal and stoneworkers and sculptors, but also precious metals (gold, silver), precious stones (“carnelian, lapis lazuli”) and building stones (“stone of the mountains”) in return for grain. What can be concluded from this is that the people living in the Armenian Highland at the beginning of the third millennium B.C. must have had an economy rich in the production of precious metals and stones and building materials, that, compared to their neighbors, they must have reached a considerably high level of development in metallurgical and quarrying industries, and that they must have already had, in these early times, skilled metalworkers, sculptors, masons and architects, capable to build and decorate temples and shrines, whose fame had spread to faraway lands, even to Sumer, which developed as she was, still lacked the materials and the skills.

In connection with Aratta’s location, we wish to call here special attention to the discovery of Medzamor in the Ayrarat valley in Armenia, which was an ancient famous center of spiritual and material (mainly in metallurgy) culture that lasted from the fourth millennium B.C.. to late medical times. Here is what the noted archaeologist E. Khanzadian says in his article on Medzamor, quoted from the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia:

MEDZAMOR. A very ancient fortress-settlement in the Ararat valley, near the sources of the Medzamor river… Its real name is unknown, hence at present it is called [provisionally] Medzamor after the name of the river. … This most ancient settlement is situated on one of the volcanic cones of the middle anthropogenetic period and the surrounding plain, comprising an area of 30 hectares. It is surrounded with water on almost every side: on the northwest it is bounded by the Medzamor river and on the east it is protected by artificial moats. Archaeological excavations have proven that Medzamor has been continuously inhabited from the middle of the fourth millennium B.C. to the late Middle Ages. The layers of various cultures that have been dug so far relate to the early, middle, and late phase of the Bronze Age, the early and the developed phase of the Iron Age (pre-Urartian, Urartian and antique), and the Middle Ages. Medzamor is one of the centers of early Bronze Age culture (third millennium B.C.) of the Ararat valley. The fort on the big hill was protected by a turreted Cyclopean wall, and outside the wall, on vast elevations, were built the residences and the utility buildings. Artifacts discovered on the site prove that at Medzamor agriculture, animal husbandry and the crafts were at a developed stage. The lesser hills had astronomical as well as ritualistic significance, and, as studies have substantiated, in 2800-2600 B.C. the site was used to observe the rising of Sirius (whose appearance was probably related to the beginning of the new year and was worshiped). Studies made on Medzamor’s ziggurat-observatory that served for ritual ceremonies held in the open air, and on the monumental tower at Mokhrablur suggest the possibility of the fourmation of rural communities and the establishment of cities around these temples, in other words, the existence of an “urban revolution” in the Armenian Highland in the third millennium B.C. , which had the consequence of shaking the foundations of the primeval social order. …

The fort, protected by strong Cyclopean walls, contained basically the dwellings of the rulers and the priesthood, the temple complex and the main productions units (foundaries, workshops, metal-enrichment plants). The pre-Urartian city consisted of the living quarters of the middle and lower classes. The city had a separate shrine, a section of which is preserved in the place called Karmir-K’arer (‘Red Stones’).

The finds reveal tha the occupations of the inhabitants consisted of crafts, trade, husbandry, viniculture and vegetable growing. There existed a large-scale smelting industry, evidenced by the cylindrical brick smelters and heaps of spent mineral and casting molds found near them. In Medzamor an extensively developed animal husbandry had contributed to widening the gap between classes of property owners. This is testified by the huge stone burial chambers excavated in a field of about 50 hectares of surface area and extending approximately half a kilometer to the east and the northwest of the citadel. These burial chambers that belonged to leaders and other representatives of the court were enframed with tablets decorated with high relief sculptures of horses and lions. In the center of the burial chamber was the tomb of the leader, buried on a wooden bier, together with various objects of gold, silver bronze and tin, shaped beads of carnelian, agate amber and glass, colorfully varnished pottery, ceramic ware ornamented with hunting scenes, and stone goblets, all of which are eloquent witnesses for the high level of development of the crafts, saturated with technological innovations, particularly in jewellery and metallurgy. Along with the leader were buried also servants, slaves, horses, big and small horned animals (and probably hunting dogs).

But the most remarkable find among all the others is a sculpture of a frog, made of onyx, which is a Babylonian weighting-stone, and bears cureiform inscriptions. It is dated 16th century B.C.

In view of all these material and tangible evidences supplied by Medzamor, testifying to its great and ancient past reaching the middle of the fourth millennium B.C., we are tempted to assume that it is not unlikely that this city might be the famous city of Aratta, the subject of the Sumerian epic tale (or an important city in the land of Aratta). There are more than one indications of various nature that suggest this assumption, the following being the most obvious:

1. The story told in the Sumerian epic poems has taken place in the first quarter of the third millennium B.C. Medzamor was in full activity at that time.

2. Medzamor is situated in the Ararat valley which was part of Ayrarat. As we have seen, Ayrarat corresponded to Aratta by its geographical location (and probably also by name).

3. Medzamor, with its foundaries, workshops, metal-enrichment plants and heaps of spent mineral, was an important metallurgical center. The excavated objects of gold, silver, bronze, and tin, as well as the beads made of carnelian, agate, amber, and glass show a high level of culture in goldsmithery and jewellery. All these seem to have fully justified Enmerkar to demand of Aratta (even by sending wheat in return) to supply him with gold, silver, precious stones, and alos metalworkers for the construction and the embellishment of the temples in Erech and Eridu. (22)

There were built in Medzamor not only Cyclpean walls and towers, but alos temples and dwelling structures. In fact, the land of Ararat is very rich in basalt, marble and various other building stones; it is actually the richest region in the world in light and beautiful tuff. This, too, was ample justification for Enmerkar to ask Aratta to supply “stones of the mountain, “ sculptors and stoneworkers for the construction of temples.

4. As we have seen above, archaeology has revealed that in Medzamor, between 2800-2600 B.C. , people have observed the rising of Sirius and have worshiped it. One cannot bypass such an important evidence and we would like to draw particular attention to it. First it must be noted that Enmaerkar lived exactly in these days. Being Gilgamesh’s (cir. 2680 B.C.) grandfather, he must have lived around 2750 B.C. Second, from the information given in the epic tales, we know that the goddess Inanna was none other than Sirius,(23) and that the rising of this star was considered by the people of Aratta as sign that she belonged to them and protected them. This is why king of Aratta has ent a message to Enmerkar (through his herald) stating that Inanna had not abandoned neither Aratta nor her house therein (the ziggurat-temple that was also an observatory).

(We have stated earlier that Inanna was the same as Anahit who was the patron mother of Armenia. According to Melik-*****yan, in the long past, the Ayghr lake and the Sev-Jur river, on which the ancient site of Medzamor is situated, were called Medzamor(‘the great mother’) after Anahit’s name.)

‘(22)In connection with Aratta, it is interesting to note here the province of Artsakh in Armenia (in the east of the Ararat valley) and its name. This area, rich in gold (at Zod), silver, copper, and other mines, was called Ardakh, Undekhe, in the times of Urartu. We must consider also Mount Eritia, north of Lake Van, mentioned by Shalmaneser III or the city of Eridia, mentioned by Ispuini. It reminds us of the name of the city of Eridu in Sumer, for the construction of which an important part is attributed to the people of Aratta. In fact, the city of HA.A(=Eridu) of the first Sumerian antediluvian dynasty is mentioned as Subari in Akkadian translation. It could have been possible, therefore, that this city was built by Subarians who descended from the north (the Armenian Highaland) and was named after them

(23) Semites have identified Inanna with Ishtar who personified Venus.’

5. The fact that in the huge stone burial chamber at Medzamor, along with the leader were also found buried servants, slaves, horses, big and small horned animals and precious objects, can be considered an evidence for the religious ties and the similarities of beliefs and customs that existed between Sumer and Medzamor (and Ayrarat in general). This remind us of the burial chamber at Ur of Sumer, discovered by the Angol-American archaeological expedition under the direction of C.L. Wooley, where, in front of the door of the chamber where the deceased was laid, were buried also men, women, and animals with their equipment. This custom certainly could hae existed among many other peoples in the past, but its roots in Armenia were so deep and ancient that it has perpetuated for millenniums, even up to the time of the Artashessian Dynasty, Khorenatsi has recorded that King Artashes of Armenia was buried with great pomp and ceremony “in a golden sarcophagus, with numerous ornaments and weapons… and many of his favorite women, concubines and servants died, or, as khorenatsi interprets, were killed and buried with him according to pagan customs.”

6. The ties and the communications of Aratta-Ayrarat with Southern Mesopotamia (with Sumer and later with Babylon) over the Euphrates and the Tigris have continued for millenniums. One of the tangible proofs for these relations is the Babylonian weighing-stone, discovered at Medzamor (and dated the middle of the second millennium B.C.), that bears the sculpture of a frog with cuneiform inscriptions and tells a lot about the metals and the precious stones to be weighed for Babylon, thus testifying to an active trade with her.

The trade relations that Armenia had with Babylon have continued for thousand of years even after the time of this weighting-stone. They have constituted a firm and natural tradition between the two countries conditioned by the two waterways, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Herodotus has supplies substantial information about the business that went on between the Armeians and the Babylonians over the Euphrates.

How can one explain these exceptionally close ties between Aratta and Erech, at that early period of Sumer’s life in Southern Mesopotamia, ties that have been considered so important as to become the subject matter of epic poems? S. Kramer writes about Aratta:

“A far-off city-state…which owes its fame and name not to its own achievements, though these seem to have been quite a few, but to the bards and poets of Sumer who, for some as yet undiscovered reason, sang of its metals and stones, its craftsmen and artisans, its boldly challenging en and its beloved goddess, who seems to be non other than Inanna of Sumer.”

As it was mentioned earlier, in evaluating the credibility of the events related in the epic poems, one must not forget that the epic poem was the only historiographic style employed at the time, and although the legendary unfolding of the events presented there cannot be accepted literally, nevertheless, they contain certain elements based on real historical facts which must be evaluated as such. For example, we, certainly, do not accept that every single word exchanged between the two kings were literally true, nor that the herald had really made so many trips and so fast between Erech and Aratta, quite far from each other, to carry a response for every statement; but we do not overlook the essential significance of the mission either.

In essence, the information contained in the epic tales attributes to Aratta an important participation in the construction and adornment of the temples in Erech and Eridu, the most ancient cities of Sumer. In other words, the people of Aratta have played a prominent part, with their contribution of precious metals, stones and craftsmen, in the work of building and embellishing these cities, the initiative of which is credited to Enmerkar.

It is possible to give more than one and varied explanation for the reasons of the close ties that are observed between the material and spiritual cultures of Erech and Aratta.

Some authors assume that the Sumerians may have come from the north and before moving to Southern Mesopotamia via the Tigris and the Euphrates (at the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C. or earlier) they may have stayed for some time in the Armenian Highland (around Aratta). Such an assumption, of course, entails close contract and religious, cultural and even marital ties with the people of the Armeian Highland. There are some indications that the Sumerians have previously been a mountain people and that they belived that their gods dwelled on mountain tops; this is the reason why in Sumer they built high ziggurats and placed their god’s throne on their summits.

Enmerkar, who was regarded as “the sone of the sun-god”, considered Inanna, the goddess of Aratta, as his sister, and he was the one who brought Inanna, formerly belonging to Aratta, to Erech and built a temple for her.

In our previous works we have spoken at length about the Sumero-Armenian connections and have brought our more than one hundred Sumerian words that have their parallels in Armenian, close to half of them being Indo-European. On the other hand, the number of Sumerian words known to us that concur with Armenian is more thatn tow hundred.

The close time between Aratta and Sumer could have developed by means of natural-traditional interrelationships coming from a more distant past, made possible between the two sides through the Euphrates and the Tigris waterways. As we have seen, the epic tale speaks about building vessels to transport construction material and craftsmen from Aratta, on pack animals.

As long as the Tigris and the Euphrates have existed, the ties between the peoples living at their two extremities must be taken as a natural phenomenon of millenial antiquity. One of the proofs of these contacts is the concrete testimony given by Herodotus (5th century B.C.) who, writing more than two thousand years after the times of Enmerkar, states that the Armenians had very close commercial ties with Babylon over the Euphrates, and describes in detail how they would load their merchandise and donkeys to shield-shaped rafts made of wood cut from the forests in Armenia and covered with hides, how they would sail down the river to Babylon, and after selling the goods and the wood of the rafts, they would load the hides on the donkeys and return home, only to start the trip over again.

According to Xenophon, the Armenians had connections even with India. He informs as that King Cyrus of Persia had asked the Armenians to accompany the Persian ambassador to India and present him to India’s kings. These examples are important indications showing the ancient traditional relations that the Armenians had, through the Euphrates and the Tigris, with Southern Mesopotamia and even beyond, with India. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Cyrus ask such a service of some other people living in the south of Persia and closer to India, such as the Elamites or the Babylonians? Obviously for the reason that Armeians already had a fame in matters of this nature.

It is also possible that the Sumerians could have acquired their knowledge of and developed connections with Aratta merely by means of the intrusions they made to that country, let by a curiosity for the mysterious highland where lay the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris, or during their marauding or conquering raids to that rich highland. The Sumerians had traditional legend about these sacred rivers that wre vital for them. The distant land where they sprang forth and where the gods who made them flow had set their thrones, was shrouded for them with legendary mysticism. The Sumerians belived that gods dwelled on mountain tops, that is why they used to build high ziggurats, symbolizing mountains, as the dwelling-place of their divinities. It is natural, therefore, that a strong desire would be aroused in them to reach that mysterious highland, to know and even to conquer it.

Barely four centuries after Enmerkar, Lugal-Zaggisi (2371-2347 B.C.), the king of Umma, after subduing a few Sumerian cities, has launched an invasion towards the Armenian Highland, about which he has written for following: “…when the god Enlil had delivered the kingdom of the land to Lugal-Zaggisi … and when his might had subdued the lands and when ha had conquered them from the sunrise to the sunset, then he opened a straight way from the Lower Sea to the Upper Sea, through the Euphrates and the Tigris …”(Xenophon). It is obvious tha the Upper Sea that he reached through the Euphrates and the Tigris is Lake Van. Even for Assyria’s Shalmanese III it was a question of religious obligation and royal honor and authority to reach the upper land above the Euphrates and the Tigris, to see it and occupy it. He writes in one of his inscription: “In my fifteenth year of reign I advanced to the sources of the Tigris (and) Euphrates. I set up (i.e. carved) my royal image on their cliffs.”

It should not be considered unlikely, therefore, that in the times of Enimerkar (perhaps even before) the Sumerians might have reached Aratta and established connections with her.

It is also possible that the Sumerians could have inherited the traditions about Aratta’s wealth, culture and fame from those groups of natives of the Armenian Highland who, moving along the streams of the Euphrates and the Tigris, penetrated or immigrated to Southern Mesopotamia in much earlier times (before and after the arrival of the Sumerians), settled there and later mixed with Sumerians.

We also consider it probable that those who have carried information about Aratta to Sumer could have been the Subarians, who, according to preserved cuneiform writings, had already penetrated into Southern Mesopotami in the distant past and had, in a great extent, mixed with the Sumerians and later with the Semites. (This topic will be dealt with later.)

We have already seen that Armani was in the land of Subari, or, more precisely, the central region of the main land called Subartu corresponded to the southern regions of the Armenian Highland.

'...ON THE 17TH DAY...FORTY MINUTESAFTER SUNRISE...THE GATE SHALL BE OPENEDBEFORE THE GODS [M]ANU AND ANTU...BRINGING TO AN END THEIR OVERNIGHT STAY...'

THE CHALDEAN ARMANI SACRED SYMBOL OFPARADISE/DILMUN/ETEN/LAND OF THE ELDER [NETJERU] GODS.FOUR RIVERS OF PARADISE LEAD TO THE FOUR-ARMED STAR [FOUR CARDINAL POINTS, ELEMENTS, WINDS ETC.]THAT IN THE CENTER/CORE CONTAINS THE DOUBLERINGS OF THE THE HOLY LAND OF THE STARGATE TWIN MOUNTAIN...TERRESTRIAL MIRROR OF THE CELESTIAL [ERIDANUS] MILKY WAY...

ERIDANUS IS THE SAME WORD AS NAHRU...MEANING RIVER,FROM WHICH THE WORD NAHARIN [FIRE+WATER] ORNAIRI COMES [ONE OF THE ANCIENT NAMES OF ARMANIA-MIT[[R]]ANNI]IN ARMANI EPICS, BOTH ERIDANUS AND THE EUPHRATESWERE ALSO SYNONYMOUS WITH THE RIVER OF THE NIGHT,OR THE RIVER OF THE UNDERWORLD, WHICH WAS NAMEDAS THE HUBUR. THIS IN TURN WAS THE RIVER OF CREATION...CELESTIAL EUPHRATES.

THE ARMENIC COMMUNITIES BEGAN CIVILIZATION THROUGH THE GREAT NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION.

THE ASTONISHING [TO SAY THE LEAST] 2 METER TALL STATUE OF A MAN [WITH A STYLIZED 'V-NECK' BLOUSE] DISCOVERED IN 1993 IN BALIKLIGÖL [LIT. CHILDREN'S LAKE] ON DISPLAY IN A MUSEUM IN URFA [ANCIENT ARMANUM ORIONIC CENTER...HARRAN-HURRIAN-ARYAN FIRE...AYR...MAN] IN IMMEDIATE PROXIMITY OF PORTALER-GÖBEKLI TEPE [LIT. NAVEL MOUNTAIN...SYMBOLIC FEM. + MASC. ATTRIBUTES] REMARKABLE FINE AND TRULY UNIQUE WORK FOR A SUPERBLY MADE 13,500 YEAR OLDSTATUE.....THAT IN ITS AMAZING EXECUTION COMPLETELY DEFIES THE DOGMAOF THE 'PRIMITIVE STONE AGE' ERA. HENCE MY OWN NAMING OF THE STATUE AS A STAR-MAN OR BETTER YET AN ATLANTEAN...MAN WEARING 'MODERN' CLOTHES...TRULY AN ASTOUNDING AND IN MANY RESPECTS EXTRATERRESTRIAL FOR THERE IS NO PARALLEL STATUETTE OF SUCH WORKMANSHIP AND QUALITY THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE OF THIS ERA.SHATTERING ALL PREVIOUS 'HISTORIC TIMELINES'...THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS THAT FOUND THE STATUE HAVE DUBBEDIT THE GOD OF FERTILITY/REPRODUCTION/LIFE/REGENERATION... BECAUSE BOTH HANDS OF -- THE OVERALL OBELISK-PHALLIC LIKESTATUE -- ARE STRATEGICALLY PLACED ON THE PROMINENTLY MARKED PHALLUS...SO WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS?...WE SEE WITHIN THE EMERGING MATRIARCHAL ORDER THE WORSHIP OF THE GENERATIVE PRINCIPLE/LIFE FORCETHE SHAMANIC HIGHLY SPIRITUAL WOMEN HAD PLACED THE STATUE WITHINTHE SANCTUM SANCTORUM [FIXED POINT/POLE/CORE OF THE ENCIRCLING TEMPLE...SYMBOLICALLY REP. WITH A DOT WITHIN THE CIRCLE...MASCULINE PRINCIPLE WITHIN THE ETERNAL FEMININE]...ALL OF THE SUBSEQUENT MYSTERY/FERTILITYCULTS REACHED ORGIASTIC CLIMAX AND COMMUNION [HARMONIOUS WHOLENESS THROUGH RECONCILIATION OF THE OPPOSITES]WITH THE DIVINE THROUGH ONE KIND OR ANOTHER TANTRIC/SEXUAL [OR EVEN ASEXUAL] RITE...BE IT PHYSICAL, MENTAL OR SPIRITUAL.

EA-ENKI AS THE PRIMORDIAL COSMIC WATERS [FISH TAIL]...OUT OF WHICH EMERGESTHE WINGED [ARMS IN ARMENIAN TO THIS VERY DAY IS TEVERWHICH LITERALLY MEANS WINGS]SUN DISK...THE TWO SACRED RIVERS OF AR-MANI PARADISETIGRIS AND EUPHRATES FLOW IN-BETWEEN AS SERPENTINE RIVERS/WATERS.[TWIN PEAKS OF THE COSMIC MOUNTAIN/AXIS MUNDI BETWEEN WHICH SUN RISES AND SETS].THE VESSELS OF GOD AND THE WINGED AND HORNED HIGH PRIESTSWITH THE MAGICK POUCH OF EA THAT HOLDS THE SACRED CONES OF POWER. SAME SYMBOLISM WOULD CONTINUE IN AN UNBROKEN TRADITION PLACEDON ARMENIAN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS, CHURCHES AND SIMILARSACRED ARTIFACTS. THE WISDOM SCIENTISTS WANTED TO PRESERVETHE KNOWLEDGE FOR POSTERITY BY ENSHRINING THE DIVINE CODEIN SYMBOLIC [SUBLIME] RATHER THAN EXOTERIC [WRITTEN] FASHION.

THE SPREAD OF THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION AND CIVILIZATION FROM THE HEARTARMENIAN HIGHLAND-ARATTA-ARARAT-DILMUN-EDEN. THE DIFFUSIONTOOK PLACE INITIALLY TO THE IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING AREAS.GREEN BOUNDARY MARKING THE SPREAD OF THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTIONTHROUGHOUT THE LEVANT, THE RED BOUNDARY MARKS THE SPREADOF SETTLED SOCIETIES AND CIVILIZATION THROUGHOUT CENTRALANATOLIA. THE MOTHER NOSTRATIC LANGUAGE GAVE BIRTH TO THE PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN MOTHER LANGUAGE ASCIVILIZATION WAS BORN WITH THE SACRED SPOKEN WORD/BAN...AS THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD STATES IN THE HOLY LAND OF THE ELDER GODS [NAHARIN-NAIRI THE LAND OF FIRE AND WATER...SYMB. REP. WITH THE COSMIC MOUNTAIN EMERGING FROM THE INITIAL CHAOS/WATERSOF THE ABYSS...ZEP TEPI/GOLDEN AGE/PARADISE/PARTEZ/GARDEN OF EDEN] AND ORANGE BOUNDARY MARKS THE SPREAD THROUGHOUTZAGROS MOUNTAIN RANGE-MESOPOTAMIA. AS WATERS BEGAN TO SECEDE IN LOWER MESOPOTAMIA [CA. 5,000 BC] THE CREATIVE MINDAND HARDWORKING SPIRIT OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE WOULD CULTIVATEAND CREATE CIVILIZATION INCLUDING AMONGST OTHERS THE GREAT CITIES OF UR, URUK AND ERIDU [ALL WITH THE SACRED AR-UR-ER ROOTOF THE GODMEN ANCESTORS AS THE SURVIVING EPIC OF GILGAMESHAND THE HOLY LAND OF ARATTA WOULD BE RECORDED BY ARMENIC SHINAR-SUMERIANS] CIVILIZATION EVENTUALLY SPREAD THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE NEAR EAST AND EVENTUALLY ALL OVER THE WORLD.

SUMERIAN STELAE WITH THE 12- POINTED STAR [ZODIAC DIVIDED INTO 2SIX-WINGED AST-ER-ISKS...EA-HAY...COSMIC WATERS AND DIVINE WISDOM]WITH THE FIXED CENTER [CIRCLE WITHIN A CIRCLE] THE CRESCENT BELOW ALSO STANDS FOR THE MOVEMENT OF THE SUN THROUGH THE TWELVE HOUSES OF THE ZODIAC...THE CELESTIAL BOAT/ARK OF ORION...THE FIVE POINTED STAR [SUN...WITH RAYS STANDING FOR THE DOG STAR]WITH THE CRESCENT WAS ALSO PLACED ON THE SACRED MONUMENTSLATER INCORPORATED INTO, IRANIAN [SASSANIAN COINS THAT ALSO INCLUDED THE HOLY ATRUŠAN-FIRE ALTAR SOMETIMES UPON A FIXED PILLAR AND SOMETIMES UPON FOUR SUPPORTING COLUMNSSTANDING FOR THE FOUR BASE ELEMENTS AND THE FIRE/ÆTHER...THE KING WAS CROWNED WITH THE AURA/HALO THATSOMETIMES INCLUDED THE STEPPED PYRAMID AND THE CRESCENTBELOW AGAIN TAKEN DIRECTLY OUT OF ARMANI-MITANNI ROYAL SEALS[SEE SUBSEQUENT PAGES OF THIS CHAPTER].FIFTH QUINTESSENTIAL MOVING SPIRIT] BYZANTINE [AYA-CONSTANTINOPLE]AND ISLAMIC [WHOSE COLOR GREEN STOOD FOR FERTILITY ANDESPECIALLY THE GODDESS/SACRED FEMININE] SPIRITUAL ARCANUM.

ARARAT...ARATTA --The Land of the Mountains Where the Gods Live of the great Epic of Gilgamesh. The Land where the Garden of Eden -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Wisdom is located...the Twin peaks of Mashu -- the SYMBOL of the holy Cosmic Mountain. When many of us hear this name we picture the birth and rebirth of humanity and human civilization in the sacred highlands of ARMANIA.

ARMENIC SUMERIANS DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES IN THEIR SCULPTURAL MONUMENTS WITH THE BEAUTIFUL BIG BRIGHT WIDE EYES.THE TRADEMARK OF THE ARMENIANS MANIFESTING THE INNER BEING OF A WARM AND NOBLE ARMENIAN SOUL-SPIRIT IN ITS TRUE ESSENCE. THE ANCIENT ANCESTORS BELIEVED THAT EYES -- BEING THE WINDOWS TO THE SOULCONNECTING THE MICROCOSM [HUMAN -- FINITE] WITH THE MACROCOSM [GOD -- INFINITE]HENCE THE GREAT UNMANIFEST UNKNOWN -- ANTHROPOMORPHICALLY REPRESENTEDIN AYA [WISDOM -- THE ETERNAL FEMALE PRINCIPLE] OR HAYA [LIGHT -- SOLAR MALE PRINCIPLE] -- THE UNDERLYING NOTION FOUND IN WORDS LIKE EYE -- HAYATSK -- VIEW/ VISION OR HAYELI -- MIRROR-- THE ANDROGYNOUS SUPREME DEITY OF THE ARMENIANSTHE DIVINE ESSENCE OF ALL..

AFTER THEIR SUPREME FEMALE MOTHER GODDESS LATER IN THETHIRD MILLENNIUM BC TRANSFORMED INTO MALE DEITY EA-HAYA...

The Sumerians that were of Armenic or Armenid extraction had established one of the first centers of civilization in the lower part of Mesopotamia. Many scholars agree that Sumerians initially inhabited Armenian Highland and gradually descended to first Northern Mesopotamia and eventually spread further south, establishing the cities of Ur [excavated by Sir Leonard Wooley in the 1920s], Uruk and Eridu [note the sacred variations -- AR-UR-ER-OR prefix]. Fortunately a number of Sumerian inscriptions dating from somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BC have been preserved.

They give us a fascinating glimpse into the Sumerian origins and culture. In the great Epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerians recount the land of their ancestors, the Arattans in the Highlands of Armenia. Most scholars agree that Aratta [Suburi - Sumerians also known as Suberians and called themselves Shinar[ar]s] was in fact the first Indo-European state that existed in the first half of the third millennium BC. Archaeology has revealed that in Metsamor, between 2,800-2,600 BC, astronomer scientist high priests observed the rising of Sirius, and worshiped it. Sirius [Dog Star] symbolically stood for Matron Goddess Aya-Inanna-Ninhursag [later Anahit] of Aratta. Enmerkar, the grandfather of the hero Gilgamesh lived around 2,750 BC and the King of Aratta through his herald sent a message to Enmerkar stating that Inanna had not abandoned neither Aratta nor her house therein -- the Ziggurat Temple that was a primordial astronomical observatory and an origin site of metal smelting foundries...

The Akkadian king Naram-Suen [2236 - 2200 BC] launched an incursion into the Armenian Highland in order to fight the powerful kingdom of ARMANI or ARATTA under the leadership of the Armani-Armenian King Madakina. In the inscriptions that were made both in Akkad and in southern portions of Armenia, he gave the details of the military campaigns against the Kingdom of ARMANI around the area of Lake Van. It is interesting to point out here that, the inscriptions tell us that later a portion of the the warrior highlanders of Aratta would later descent onto lower Mesopotamia -- defeat Naram-Suen -- and secure their own rule over the Near East.

The word Armani - an early form of Armen-Armin [Armen or Arman denotes the national affiliation, as with many cultures standing for the particular nation thus, the God AR being the primary deity in the Indo-European pantheon - thus AR MAN denotes -- Men of Ar or Children of Ar, again initially AR standing for ARAREL-ARARICH [hence Ar-Ar-At the Place of ARAR] -- Create-Creator, also Sun, Light, Life and Love.

For the final version of Aratta Kingdom topic there are few more things required such asket arachin - connection between Gilgamesh and Arattaket yerkrort - connection between Qur-Araksis and Arattaket yerort - connection between Metsamor and Arattaket chorort - bases of bible's mentioned world flood, Noah's Arc, and Ararat taken from Giglamesh and Aratta Epicmore information will be required for the finalised version of Aratta Kingdom

For the final version of Aratta Kingdom topic there are few more things required such asket arachin - connection between Gilgamesh and Arattaket yerkrort - connection between Qur-Araksis and Arattaket yerort - connection between Metsamor and Arattaket chorort - bases of bible's mentioned world flood, Noah's Arc, and Ararat taken from Giglamesh and Aratta Epicmore information will be required for the finalised version of Aratta Kingdom

Guy's this looks like Azeri intellectuals mythologies about their eternel Azerbaijan. I don't understand what is the point of attempting to go that far in history when a history starting from 600 BC is more than impressive, only the Greeks, the Persians from the region can pride themselves about.

Guy's this looks like Azeri intellectuals mythologies about their eternel Azerbaijan.What are you suggesting that we are working on Azeri history? Did you even know that Azerbadrjan did not exist untill 1918? What's your point Domino jan, if it is a prooven history of Armenians why shouldn't I bare a pride into it and mention about it everywhere that I go? Why shouldn't we mention our history just like the Greeks and Persians?

I don't understand what is the point of attempting to go that far in history when a history starting from 600 BC is more than impressive, only the Greeks, the Persians from the region can pride themselves about.To be honest with you Domino jan, I didn't expect this from you, you are the least I suspected of blocking the roots of our history, knowing your contributions for our cause and beliefs. Why do you think that Armenians had no direct connection with Greeks and Persians 3000bc? does our histyr start from 600bc? If we take it that way then lets just erase everything and start from 301ad.

Guy's this looks like Azeri intellectuals mythologies about their eternel Azerbaijan.What are you suggesting that we are working on Azeri history? Did you even know that Azerbadrjan did not exist untill 1918? What's your point Domino jan, if it is a prooven history of Armenians why shouldn't I bare a pride into it and mention about it everywhere that I go? Why shouldn't we mention our history just like the Greeks and Persians?

I don't understand what is the point of attempting to go that far in history when a history starting from 600 BC is more than impressive, only the Greeks, the Persians from the region can pride themselves about.To be honest with you Domino jan, I didn't expect this from you, you are the least I suspected of blocking the roots of our history, knowing your contributions for our cause and beliefs. Why do you think that Armenians had no direct connection with Greeks and Persians 3000bc? does our histyr start from 600bc? If we take it that way then lets just erase everything and start from 301ad.

Ashot, our history as Armenians does start from 600-550BC, that is from when we were identified and with some homogeniouty. If you push that history to 3000 BC, then Persians and others from the region will have as much legitimity to claim that history as being part of theirs. The Persians spread their language from the province for Fars about the same time. The spread of Indo European language was at about 2000 BC, we probably share much more with the Hittites than some Ararrata groups which much little is known. Armenians are a mixture of all those people, including the Phyrigians and the identity really appeared at about 600 BC. The concept of ''proto-Armenian'' is not much important for us..., what we need to do is preserve our known history not some speculative history of what happened few thousands of years BC.

But if you want to veste time and energy on old history do so, it will be more relevent to wok on the Phrygian script writtings, and if you want to push a little bit further maybe Hieroglyphic Hittite: http://links.jstor.o...9...>2.0.CO;2-L (pay particular attention on what it says about Armenian and Phyrigian).

Guy's this looks like Azeri intellectuals mythologies about their eternel Azerbaijan. I don't understand what is the point of attempting to go that far in history when a history starting from 600 BC is more than impressive, only the Greeks, the Persians from the region can pride themselves about.

Domino, it was only 7 days ago when you said congradulation to the people who worked on the project.

Aratta, if you continue further in that thread you will see that I had no idea what the project was really about. I thought the site title was that because it was the name of your username. I first thought your project was related to stuff like counterings on youtube etc. To find out that the title represented really the subject surprised me.

QUOTE (Aratta-Kingdom @ Mar 15 2008, 11:57 PM)

Domino, it was only 7 days ago when you said congradulation to the people who worked on the project.